Twilight before Dawn
by NobodyGirl003
Summary: The sequel to Sunset before Dusk. Exchy/Chey has finally been returned to the Destiny Islands, but the life that she remembers becomes warped when she runs into various members of Organization XIII. But how long will it take for her memory to return and find out that she has been replaced? And after that, what will become of the young Keyblade Wielder?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hey guys! I know you guys are probably slightly mad at me for taking so long at writing the sequel, but I am still working on it, and to prove it, here's the first chapter! Special thanks AdineArts and AnimeFan293 for letting me know that I needed to post this up, and to Veronica. toon.7 for a wonderful title and great ideas for the story. Also, thank you to all of my lovely readers for inspiring me every step of the way. Another thing is that Sunset before Dusk has gotten over 4,500 views! You guys are amazing! So, here's the first chapter! Enjoy!

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><p><span><strong>~Day 467~<strong>

I smiled as I sat on the edge of the wooden dock, watching as the waves rolled blissfully over the surface of the ocean's never-ending sea. I was all alone, like normal, but I didn't feel lonely. I never felt that way when I was accompanied by the ocean. I bit into the sea salt ice-cream I was holding and watched the waves crash against the sandy shore and whisk the wet sand out to sea, noticing my reflection in the water.

My hazel eyes gleamed as I stared down at the water, my dirty blonde hair framing my face and my long bangs hanging over the right side of my face. The collar of my white buttoned up shirt was folded and it's usually long sleeves were rolled up. Along with that, I was wearing black shorts, black and white sneakers, and two silver rings on the middle finger of my right hand. One of them I had gotten from my little sister and even younger brother, Jade and Sora. I looked back at the sea and everything seemed as blissful as could be. That is, until Sora, Kairi, and Riku started running toward me.

"Chey!" Sora yelled. I looked over at them and smiled.

"Hey guys," I chimed.

"Chey, get away from there!" Riku commanded. A confused expression appeared on my face as I stood up. Just as I did so, a large Heartless, a Darkside, appeared behind me. They finally got to the dock, jumping up onto the wooden planks and running over to me. Sora and Riku called upon their Keyblades and jumped in front of me.

"Chey, Kairi, go somewhere safe. Riku and I can take care of it." I looked at Sora with an even more confused face, but it vanished as I began to laugh. I closed my eyes and shook my head, remembering how much of a little kid Sora acted like as Sora, Kairi, and Riku looked at me, seeming confused.

"Chey, are you okay?" The redheaded girl asked, seeming concerned.

"You don't need to worry about me," I reassured them, my own Oblivion Keyblade appearing in my hand, "I can take care of it." I walked over to Sora and held out my ice-cream.

"Here, hold this." I put the stick of the sweet dessert in his hand and walked past him, causing the three to give me a completely dumbfounded look. Without a moment's hesitation, I jumped at the Heartless. I cut into its arm, did a back flip, and landed on my feet. I continued fighting the Darkside, just narrowly avoiding its attacks, until I made the final blow. I slammed my Oblivion's blade down on the creature's head and it exploded in a plume of what seemed like smoke. I landed on my feet once again and turned around to face my friends. They were still standing there, seeming very surprised by what I had accomplished. I walked between them, taking my ice-cream back from Sora, and smiled.

"Thanks for holding my ice-cream, Sora," I chimed. I began walking away as Kairi became the first to overcome her shock.

"Hey, Chey, wait up!" She called, running after me and leaving the two boys there on the dock.

Later that night, I walked into my room and crashed on my bed, all of the energy I once had drained from my body. I had fought a lot of Heartless and I didn't know that Kairi and Riku were staying the night at the house Sora, my sister Jade, and I shared, so my room seemed a little unkept. Of course, I was excited that our friends were staying the night, but I was too tired to show it. I had closed my eyes and was actually drifting off when Kairi walked into the room.

"Hey, Chey," She smiled.

"Hey, Kai," I replied, opening my eyes and sitting up. I took off my ring and was about to set it on my night stand when the girl sat down on the bed beside me. She looked at the silver ring with a confused expression and pointed at it.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked. I shrugged. "May I look at it."

"Sure," I nodded, handing the redhead the ring. She began looking at it before she noticed something I hadn't.

"Who's Axel?" She questioned. Why did that name sound so familiar?

"Where'd you find that?" Kairi pointed at two names etched into the metal of the inside of the ring.

"Right here," She pointed out. I took the ring out of her hand and looked closer at what it said. Two names and a heart were inscribed in it in a beautiful cursive font.

"Exchy ❤ Axel," I read aloud. It felt like I had been called Exchy like I was called Chey, but I could have sworn that nobody had ever called me by that name. It was very confusing. I shrugged as I put the ring back on. "I woke up with it on about a week ago," I told her, "The funny thing is, I don't even remember getting it."

"Well, Riku and Sora are waiting for us out in the living room. I have to go make the popcorn because we're having a movie night!" I faked a smile as the excited girl ran out of the room. After she was gone, I frowned. Who were Axel and Exchy?

I sat on the couch beside Kairi, who was asleep, as Sora and Riku wrestled on the floor, becoming wrapped and tangled in a mess of blankets and sheets that they had laid out. It wasn't too long after the movie had finished playing and the boys were already playing. That, and Kairi had already fallen asleep. I watched the boys as Riku pinned Sora down and laughed.

"You guys, Kairi 's asleep," I shrilled quietly. The two looked at me and stopped fighting. Riku released my younger brother and got up.

"Okay," Riku sighed, flopping onto the couch beside me, "I'm sleeping here on the couch. Sora, are you sleeping in your room?" The brunette shook his head.

"No. I'll stay out here." He was quiet for a moment. "Hey, can we watch some more movies?" He asked, looking at me.

"Go ahead," I replied. I grinned as I grabbed Kairi 's shoulder and began to shake her mercilessly. "Earthquake!" I yelled. She began to open her eyes and I stopped shaking her. Then, I stood up and grabbed both of her shoulders before shaking her again. Instead, I yelled a different phrase. "Aftershock!" I cried, laughing as her eyes widened.

Meanwhile, Axel was in Twilight Town, sitting on the clock tower all alone with a sea salt ice-cream in his hand. The sun was setting in the distant world and the redhead was watching the burning sky as it disappeared beyond the horizon. He looked at the empty space to his left and a look of pain became evident on his face. It had been a whole six months since I was returned home and Fox and Xion perished. Everyone in the Organization except for Axel, Saix, and Vexen thought that Fox, Xion, and I had gone out on a mission and disappeared. The redhead had been all alone since. He was about to stand up when a Dark Corridor opened behind him and a certain bluenette stepped out into setting sun's rays. Axel turned his head to look at him.

"Hey . . ." Axel was silent as Saix sat down beside him and bit into the sea salt ice-cream he was holding. All that could be heard was the sound of the gentle wind blowing in their direction. "You've been really quiet since they left." Axel waited a moment before replying.

"Yeah . . . I guess I have. What about it?" The redhead took a bite of his ice-cream.

"Nothing. I was just checking up on you."

"Hey, Saix. I have a question."

"What is it?" the bluenette asked.

"Why were you so mean to Chey when she was here?" They both fell silent.

"I-I think it's because of how mad I was for not being able to save you both," Saix admitted. "When we were on the dock that day and you were attacked, I couldn't do anything about it. Even worse was when Chey let that Heartless attack her a couple years later. Xemnas was already interested in her due to the fact she could wield a Keyblade, but when that happened, I just couldn't forgive myself. I may be the second-in-command, but I don't always agree with what Xemnas says. I tried distancing myself from you guys so that way you couldn't get hurt if I was attacked like that again." Saix was looking down at the ground far below his feet when Axel put a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know if I should thank you or be pissed off," the redhead replied. "I don't think taking her home was the right choice, though. I mean, wouldn't it be horrible if you lost part of your memory, and when you got it back, the memory of when you were trying to remember vanished in return. That, and if she would have stayed with us after she got her memory back, everything could have gone back to the way things were." There was silence once again as the sun finally slipped below the horizon.

"I'm sorry . . ."

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><p><span><strong>~Day 468~<strong>

I walked along the calm ocean waves as they crashed against sandy beach, looking up at my surroundings. My eyes reverted from the sand to the ocean and then to the sky as I was temporarily blinded by the sun. For some reason, I just felt . . . empty. Like a hallow shell of a girl that, for some odd reason, could never become whole. I stepped onto the wooden dock and walked toward its edge, noticing that one of the boards had become loose, before I sat down. I allowed my bare feet to feel the surface of the icy waters of the awaking ocean. Something just felt like it was missing.

I looked to my right, then to my left, and then down at my empty hands. So that's what was missing; Lea, Isa, and my ice-cream. I heaved a sigh as a horrid feeling of despair began to take me over.

"No," I told myself. "It's alright. You're okay . . ."

"Chey!" I looked over to my left and saw Riku running toward me, kicking up sand as he went. He jumped up onto the dock and smiled. "Do you want to head over to Traverse Town and train for a bit?"

"Sure," I replied, hiding my sorrow behind an artificial smile. I stood up and we began walking back down the beach.

Meanwhile, Axel was roaming around the halls of The Castle That Never Was, thinking deeply about the events that had taken place before he had brought me home. He was pacing back and forth in the moonlight from the Kingdom Heart outside, clearly trying to remember something that he had long forgotten, as a certain bluenette rounded the corner and looked at him.

"Axel." The redhead didn't reply. He just continued pacing back and forth. The other man walked over to his best friend and grabbed his wrist, spinning the redhead around to face him. He let go of his friend when he saw the expression on his face. "Axel, what's wrong?" Saix demanded to know. Axel was silent. That is, before he finally began to speak up.

"Why did I have to let her go? I mean, was it really the right thing to do? Did I really do the right thing, giving her back her old life in exchange for the existence of two others, letting her just forget about me when we shared so much, letting myself tear my emotions apart like this?" Saix put his hand on Axel's shoulder.

"You know, we could get her back–"

"How?" Axel interrupted.

"But, it's way to risky to do while she still has a heart." The room fell silent as Axel looked down at the floor.

"I could take her heart," He suggested quietly. Saix looked at the redhead in shock.

"What?" Axel looked into the bluenette 's deep orangish yellow eyes.

"I'll take her heart," Axel repeated, "I'll do anything to get Exchy, no, Chey back." Saix looked at the floor and shook his head.

"Lea . . ." He sighed. They were both silent before Saix opened his eyes and looked at the redhead. "Just wait for the new replica to awake. Give it a chance before you go and do something too risky." The bluenette turned on his heels and walked back down the hallway, eventually disappearing from view. After he was gone, Axel remained where he was standing, completely still as he looked down at the tiled floor below him.

The street lights shone in Traverse Town's world as Riku and I ran around the town, searching for Heartless to fight and playing like we were little kids. It was just the two of us. We had told Sora and Kairi that we would return not too long before sundown, but now, it was far past sunset and we were just goofing off instead of training. In fact, I was chasing him down one of the vacant streets because he had taken my ring. I could never remember how I had gotten it, but for some reason, it was special to me.

"Riku, get back here!" I shouted. He just laughed and dashed up a flight of dimly lit stairs. I grinned when I realized where he was going and jumped onto the metal railing that lead up the middle of the cemented steps, using a technique that he and Sora had taught me. Flow Motion. Once the soles of my shoes touched the metal railing, they seemed to light up and I took off like a rocket. I slid up the metal and quickly caught up to Riku before stealing my ring back and jumping off the edge of the rail, doing a flip, and landing back on my feet. I turned around to face the silver haired teen with a smug expression on my face as I held the ring out for him to see.

"Ha!" I mocked.

"Impressive, but can you dodge this?" He darted toward me and kicked my legs out from under me. Before I could even react, he caught my wrist and spun me around, tightening his grip as he pinned me against a nearby wall. He continued to look down at me with a grin as I realized what had happened.

"Okay, you got me," I admitted with a grin. He let me go and we both laughed before a cluster of Shadows appeared behind us. "Oh, look, Heartless!" I beamed, getting out of his arms and calling upon my Keyblade. He called upon his own Keyblade and we began fighting them together.

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><p><strong>AN:** So, there's the first chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Hello, my lovely readers! I decided to finish up working on the second chapter, so here it is. Enjoy!

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><p><strong><span>~Day 469~<span> **

Jexda dashed across the hot sand in Agrabah's city as Demyx followed, both of their Sitars ready for attack. It was another hot day in the scorching desert and they were both assigned the same mission there. Jexda leapt onto a crate as Demyx grabbed onto a scaffold above him.

"We're going to Never Land to play some music after this, right?" Jexda asked.

"Yeah," Demyx replied, pulling himself up onto the scaffold's sturdy boards. He got up and jumped onto the roof of a building as Jexda followed.

"Good," she smiled. The two dashed through a doorway when Demyx suddenly spotted another Heartless.

"There's one!" He cried. Before he had a chance to hit it, Jexda took the neck of her Sitar and slammed the instrument onto the creature. It burst into shadows and the two stopped running. Demyx looked at the girl.

"You're too good at this missions." Jexda let out a laugh.

"It isn't my fault you're so slow."

"Me, slow?"

"Yeah."

"Hey, I may be lazy, but I'm not slow!"

"Okay then," Jexda started with a sly grin. "Think fast!" She threw her arms forward, aiming to hit the blonde's legs. However, he jumped upward and narrowly dodged her attack. Jexda stepped back, surprised, as Demyx landed on his hands and sprung back into a flip before landing on an awning. Just then, the fabric that was holding him up ripped and he was about to fall when Jexda lunged forward.

"Demyx!" She snatched his hand at the perfect moment as he hung from the building's edge. The blonde looked down at the ground below him as he let out a whimper.

"Pull me up, please!" he pleaded. Jexda pulled him up so he could grab the roof's edge and helped him crawl onto the building. "Thanks," the blonde sighed.

"Let's just take a break for a minute," Jexda decided.

"Alright." The two sat there, chatting back and forth, until Jexda made a sudden realization.

"Exchy, Fox, and Xion have been missing for a long time."

"Yeah," Demyx nodded. "It doesn't seem like the Organization is doing much to get them back since they had Axel search the other worlds, though."

"Axel hasn't been the same without them."

"Yeah. He's almost like Saix now!" Jexda let out a sigh.

"I hope that they get home safely . . ." Then, another realization. "Hey, did Axel check the Destiny Islands?" Demyx shrugged.

"I think he said something about going there, but I was playing my Sitar, so I didn't hear everything." Demyx stood up and then helped Jexda get to her feet.

"I'm going to check the Destiny Islands tomorrow," she asserted.

"Alright. I'll go with you."

"Chey! Chey, wake up!" I opened my eyes for a second and saw that the world around me was blurry, but I could tell that someone was in front of me. I blinked a couple of times and everything started to come into focus as I realized that Riku was the one looking at me. I also noted that it was very early in the morning, and that the sun wasn't in the sky yet.

"Riku?" I wondered aloud. "What happened?"

"Do you remember last night when we got tired and decided to rest?" I thought for a moment and nodded. I felt like my heart was going to rip through my chest because of all of the running we did. "Well, we fell asleep. We have to get home before Sora and Kairi start looking for us." I quickly jumped up and we began running off down one of the alleyways.

Meanwhile, back at The Castle That Never Was, Saix was in a completely white room, talking with Xemnas. This is where Saix found himself during most of his days; talking with his leader in a meeting room that had been named Where Nothing Gathers.

"There's still no sight of our Keyblade wielders?" Xemnas asked.

"I'm afraid not," Saix replied. "They aren't at any of the worlds that we've checked."

"We need to search more worlds, then."

"But we've scoured every world that we know how to get to," Saix objected. Xemnas glared at the bluenette.

"Saix, are you sure that you don't know where they are?"

"Positive," Saix lied. Xemnas looked away.

"You are dismissed." Saix opened a Dark Corridor and warped into a hallway where Axel was waiting.

"So?" the redhead asked.

"The Superior is getting impatient. We need to do something." Axel let out a sigh, walking away from the bluenette.

"I shouldn't have brought her home," he whispered to himself. "I need to get her back, somehow."

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><p><strong>AN: **Sorry that this chapter's so short! I was asked how often I would post up chapters, so will try to post at least one chapter a week. I cannot make any promises, though. I will be working on the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Hello my amazing readers! I'm back! I apologize for my lack of updating. I had finals recently, so I didn't really have too much time. Also, happy holidays! As a little present to my readers, I'm going to try to upload a new story and post at least one chapter to my previously existing ones, if possible, since I have a lot of free time today. Anyway, here's the latest chapter. Enjoy!

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><p><strong><span>~Day 474~<span>**

I walked down the sandy beach with Riku, Sora, and Kairi as the warm summer breeze swept by. It was our last day of summer vacation and we were going to head back to school the next day, but the trio wanted to show me something.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see," Riku replied. We continued up the beach and I eventually found myself in front of a cave.

"Wait . . . this is . . ." I walked through the entrance and looked at the familiar room around me. It was dark inside and the only light that seeped in was from cracks in the ceiling. There were scribbles and drawings made from chalk on the boulders that were held together firmly by the roots that entered from the ceiling to make the room's walls, and the floor was dirt that had been flattened down for what seemed like its whole existence. At the other side of the room, there was a door that I thought had never been opened before.

"The Secret Place . . ." I stood in the center of the room as I looked around, feeling a nostalgic wave tumble over me. I stood completely still as the bits and pieces of old memories came flooding back.

**~Flashback~**

I walked stumbled into the dark room as Lea and Isa followed not too far behind me. The sun had already set and they were staying the night at the Destiny Islands. We all had our pillows and sleeping bags with us since we were all just going to camp out there. There was supposed to be a storm that night.

"Ouch," I whimpered when I tripped and fell on my knee. I saw a light flicker behind me before Isa walked past.

"Use your flashlight. It'll help." I pulled my flashlight out of my pocket as Lea turned his on. I was about to turn mine on when the redhead walked over to me and reached out a hand.

"Do you need some help getting up?" he asked.

"Sure." The redhead took my hand and helped me stand as my flashlight flickered on.

"So, what are we going to do first?" Isa asked as I unrolled my sleeping bag on the dirt floor.

"Ooh! We should tell scary stories!" Lea piped. He was already sitting on his green sleeping bag. I laid down on my blue sleeping bag and looked up at the ceiling. I didn't love his idea, but I didn't hate it either.

"Alright," Isa agreed. "Do you want to go first, Lea?" Lea paused for a moment and scratched the back of his head a little.

"I don't really have one in mind. You go first so I can think of one."

"Okay." So, Isa began his story. I can't remember all of the details, but I remember it begin about a werewolf and his family of humans. Of course, leave it to Isa to tell a story about creatures that love the moon. He was practically one himself.

Then, it was Lea's turn. I don't really remember his story all too well; it was something about a boy that was attacked by a Heartless while walking home late at night.

"And then, the Heartless pounced on him and sunk its claws deep into his flesh . . ." He was certainly good at giving gruesome details. After him, it was my turn, but I didn't really have a story. That's when the storm started outside with the first flash of lighting and rumble of thunder.

"It's pouring rain out there," Isa reported after we had sent him to check on the storm.

"You don't think the roof will cave in, right?" Lea asked.

"No, it'll be alright," I reassured him. "I've spent nights in here with worse storms going on outside." Isa walked over to his sleeping bag and crawled into it.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight." He rolled over so he could face the wall and rested his head on his pillow. Lea and I returned to our sleeping bags and fell asleep as well. We all slept soundly until I woke up later in the night, freezing cold because water had dripped from the ceiling and landed on my backpack.

I rolled over and saw the puddle that had formed beside me and how it was soaking into my pillow. Then looked up at the roof to see water dripping down and plopping into the puddle beside me.

"Great," I groaned quietly. The water had soaked my pillow and the outer layers of my sleeping bag. Thankfully, I had woken up before it soaked all the way through. I crawled onto the dirt floor and began crawling toward where Lea was sleeping a couple feet away. I sat down beside him for a moment and looked at his sleeping face. He somehow seemed younger while he slept, even though he was a little bit older than me. He then began to talk a little in his sleep.

"C-Chey . . ." he murmured. I poked his cheek and smiled slightly.

"Lea," I whispered. "Lea, wake up." He slowly opened his blueish green eyes and looked up at me.

"Chey?" he sat up a little and rubbed his eyes. "What's wrong? Did my story scare you?"

"No," I replied, shaking my head. "There's a leak in the roof and water soaked all of my stuff. That, and it was freezing over there."

"Okay. You can share my sleeping bag with me." I tensed as I felt my face begin to burn. Just how tired was he? He unzipped part of his sleeping bag and held it open. "Come on. I'll keep you warm." I was about to decline when I felt myself shiver. It really was cold.

"Alright." I crawled into the sleeping bag and helped him zip it up. It was warmer than I thought. He yawned and wrapped his arms around me.

"It's alright. I've got you." I felt my face begin to burn as he smiled at me. "Goodnight." He closed his eyes and, after a couple of minutes, fell asleep. I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest and my face burn even hotter as I hoped that he couldn't feel it. That smile was still on his face as he slept. I eventually fell asleep too and Isa yelled at us the next morning for leaving my stuff there to continue to be dripped on. I had to wring everything out the next morning.

**~End of Flashback~**

And there I was, standing in the center of that room about six or seven years later, remembering that night as the painful feeling of emptiness washed over me. I just stayed completely still. I had lost them both.

"We were planning on taking you somewhere that we thought you might like," Riku informed me. "Take out your Keyblade and point it at the door over there." I did as I was told when my Oblivion materialized in my hand. I held the hilt in both of my hands and pointed the end of its blade at the large keyhole on the door. The next thing I knew, there was a flash of blinding light and I couldn't see a thing.

"We're going to Twilight Town."

Meanwhile, Axel was walking down the streets of Twilight Town with Jexda and Demyx by his side. They had somehow been paired up for a three-man mission and they had finished it almost an hour ago. Now they were just walking down the streets, eating ice-cream and talking.

"Do you always do this after you finish a mission?" Jexda asked before licking her ice-cream.

"Yeah. I used to sit up on the huge clock tower with Exchy, Fox, and Xion, but since they're all gone . . ." His voice trailed off as he looked down at the ground. He then looked up at the burning sky. Time in the Destiny Islands was different from the time in Twilight Town. "I hope they remembers all of those sunsets." He knew that was impossible, but his false hope was still there. He took his last bite of his ice-cream as Demyx threw his own stick into a nearby trash can.

"I would probably feel that way if Jexda went missing, too," he admitted, understanding how Axel was feeling. "I would hope that she still remembered even chord and lyric to our song."

"You know I would," Jexda chimed, hugging the taller blonde. Demyx smiled and Axel felt his chest tighten with grief. Just then, he heard a familiar voice.

"Chey, slow down!" It was Riku. Axel paused and he snapped his head into the direct from which he had heard the voice from. Then, he saw something that he thought he would never see again.

"Exchy!" I dashed down the ramp and stopped in my tracks when I heard the redhead's voice. I found myself looked back at him as Jexda and Demyx stood beside him, completely shocked.

"L-Lea?" I wondered aloud.

"Chey, where'd you go?" Riku asked, searching for me not too far behind. I continued to stand there as the redhead did the same. The black coat that he was wearing looked so familiar. I then felt a sharp pain inside of my head as my vision began to become fuzzy.

"Lea . . ." I then heard Demyx and Jexda begin to yell and run toward me, pointing behind me. I felt the air shift as a large Darkside appeared behind me. That's when Riku sighted me.

"Chey, move out of the way!" He commanded. I didn't move. I couldn't.

"Just close your eyes," a gentle voice reassured me. "Relax and let the darkness take over, just for a moment." I remembered the voice from somewhere, but I had never heard it speak so softly before. I felt like I was disconnected from my body when I dropped to my knees.

"Exchy, no!" Axel screamed, running toward me.

"Chey!" Then, everything went black.

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><p><strong>AN:** Sorry that this chapter is so short and that I left it at sort of a cliff hanger. I hope you all enjoy your holidays. I'll be back with another chapter soon!


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